Who would have expected it? From Paris and Milan, the fashion capital of 2026 appears to have moved significantly south: Rome hosts the most important fashion events, it's where celebrities come on vacation or to stay—such as Harry Styles, who has made Rome his permanent base—and Instagram is flooded with foreigners sharing their shopping addresses for the best designer vintage gems. How did this happen? A set of factors that all converge at the same moment. Chanel selected Rome for its Métiers d'Art. The funeral of Valentino—the renowned couturier who built his empire in Rome—drew the biggest figures in global fashion to the capital, including Anna Wintour and Anne Hathaway. Alessandro Michele, who lives in Rome, picked Palazzo Barberini for his "Interferenze" fashion show in March, with Gwyneth Paltrow, Bianca Balti, and Georgina Rodriguez among the big stars that flew to the city for the event. The Rome Fashion Path 2026, which included over 160 entities such as stylists, brands, fashion schools, artisan workshops, vintage stores, and young designers, recently finished, thereby cementing this new identity. It included around 60 free public activities, such as fashion displays, workshops, performances, and showcases, spread over the city and suburbs. The Eternal City, which has never hosted a proper Fashion Week, has developed a somber yet casual charm that has grown irresistible to the international fashion world. A rise that no one had predicted.